Stuart Barnes: Scrum was key to comeback

The set piece became the fulcrum of the Heineken Cup final — one which Leinster dramatically turned in their favour

The scrum was at the centre of what will go down as one of the great Heineken
Cup finals.

While Northampton were dominating the set-piece with Soane Tonga'uiha at his
belligerent best, his team seemed set for a sensational upset against a
Leinster outfit who appeared to hold all the aces before kick-off.

Sixteen points ahead and three tries to the good, Northampton bounded into
their changing room at half-time looking the likely winners. Fifty-five
minutes later the brave Saints' world had been turned horribly upside down,
with Leinster having unleashed a lacerating 27-point blitz to win by 11. By
full-time it was difficult to know quite what the lost expressions were on
the faces of Dylan Hartley and his team. Bemusement or plain exhaustion? Jim
Mallinder, the head coach at Northampton, thought it was the latter.

Apologists for the English side's defeat will blame the extra rigours of the